JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (October 20, 2011) – After three straight road matches, the ETSU volleyball returns home to face Mercer and Kennesaw State in two crucial A-Sun matchups this weekend inside Brooks Gym.

The Bucs open the weekend against Mercer on Friday at 7 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Saturday against Kennesaw State at 3 p.m. The Bucs will be looking to “Book the Bears” on Friday night – fans that donate a children’s book will receive admission for just a Buc ($1). Saturday’s contest will be the annual “Pink Zone” game for cancer awareness – fans that wear pink will get in for just a Buc ($1).

The Bucs head into the weekend with a 10-13 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Atlantic Sun play. With only six conference matches remaining in the regular season, ETSU will be looking to improve its position with a strong performance this weekend.

ETSU is coming off a tough five-set defeat at Presbyterian on Tuesday night. The Bucs had a two-set lead in the match before Presbyterian rallied back for the victory. Megan Devine (Kingsport, Tenn.) led the Bucs with 20 kills and 14 digs in the match for her ninth double-double of the year.

Devine continues to lead the Bucs in kills at 4.23 per set, which ranks her second in the Atlantic Sun. In addition, her 4.62 points per set also rank second in the league. Senior Jamie Stancliff (Advance, N.C.) remains the league leader in blocks at 1.13 per set. Stancliff needs just 38 more blocks to place 10th on the Atlantic Sun career blocks list. As a team, ETSU continues to lead the league in blocks at 2.16 per set.

ETSU owns a 5-4 record all-time against Mercer, despite falling at Mercer last season in four-sets. Meanwhile, the Bucs are just 5-3 all-time against Kennesaw State. ETSU was defeated by Kennesaw State during the regular season last year; however, the Bucs got revenge in the A-Sun Tournament by defeating the Owls 3-1 to advance to the final.

For fans unable to attend the contests, live video will be available via ASun.TV. A free live stats feed will be accessible at ETSUBucs.com.

Scouting the Opponents

Mercer enters Friday’s match with a 8-15 overall record on the season, including a 1-5 mark in A-Sun play. The Bears are coming off a mid-week victory against Chattanooga on Tuesday. Mercer has not played an A-Sun match since Oct. 8 - a 3-1 victory over Stetson. Mercer is led on the offensive end by Jennifer Katona and Amiee Frutchey with 2.40 kills per set and 2.22 kills per set, respectively. Charlotte Harris leads the Bears defensively with 4.30 digs per set. Mercer leads the league in opponent’s hitting percentage at .181, while ranking second in the league in blocks (2.02 p/s) and digs (15.42 p/s).

Kennesaw State heads into the weekend with a 9-12 overall record on the season, including a 4-2 mark in A-Sun play. The Owls are riding a four-match winning streak after most recently defeating Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast in conference play. The Owls are led by Justine Young and Alyssa Lang. Young leads the squad with 3.70 kills per set, while Lang ranks second at 2.88 kill per set. Sara Metroka dishes out 10.05 assists per set from the setter position. Meanwhile, Camille Pedraza leads the team in digs at 3.31 per set. The Owls ranks third in the league in hitting percentage with a solid .206 percentage.

For more information on ETSU volleyball please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the volleyball link.